Transit buses: Counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz.

Existing law creates the Monterey-Salinas Transit District and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District with various powers and duties relative to the operation of public transit in those counties. Existing law generally requires vehicles to be driven upon the right half of a roadway, defined to include only that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel. Existing law generally prohibits the driver of a vehicle from overtaking and passing another vehicle by driving off the paved or main-traveled portion of the roadway. This bill would authorize the Monterey-Salinas Transit District and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District to conduct a transit bus-only program using the shoulders of certain state highways as transit bus-only traffic corridors, subject to approval by the department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. The highway segments to be used for the program would be jointly determined by the districts, the department, and the Department of the California Highway Patrol, as provided. The bill would thereby authorize the operation of transit buses on the shoulder of a segment of a state highway designated under the program within the areas served by the transit districts. The bill would require the districts to actively work with the department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol to develop guidelines that ensure driver and vehicle safety and the integrity of the infrastructure. The bill would require monitoring of the state of repair of the highway shoulders used in the program, and would require the districts to be responsible for all costs attributable to the program, including costs related to repairs attributable to the operation of transit buses on shoulders.